


The Thunder, the Flame, and the Sword

by CustardPudding



Series: Remnants of the Holy War [1]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu | Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
Genre: F/M, Interquel, Same for the Ced/Tine, The Diarmuid/Julia is really just mentioned in the epilogue tbh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:42:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27658328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CustardPudding/pseuds/CustardPudding
Summary: Erin hated Arvis. Yes, he was her father's half-brother, but she hated him. He took everything that she loved.Than why did he have to bring her to Belhalla? Why did he even want her there? What made him think that he could somehow make her forgive him?A prequel of sorts for FE4's gen 2 that explores Friege and Velthomer's noble houses.
Relationships: Arvis/Diadora | Deirdre, Azel | Azelle/Original Character(s), Cyrus | Saias/Original Character(s), Delmud | Diarmuid/Yuria | Julia, Fred/Olwen (Fire Emblem), Ishtar/Reinhardt (Fire Emblem), Ishtar/Yurius | Julius, Sety | Ced/Teeny | Tine
Series: Remnants of the Holy War [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2022386
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	1. Prologue) Niece of the Emperor of Flame

Erin was such an idiot. 

It was Aster who cried. Aster was the crier, Erin would comfort her, tell her everything would be okay. But now Erin was crying, and she felt like a fool. 

Everything was going wrong. She was separated from Shannan and Oifey, Aster and Seliph were nowhere to be seen, and soldiers were everywhere. Who knows where they were from; likely Velthomer or Dozel, since Friege didn’t really invest in things like that, relying on their allies to supply them with such things. 

Erin quickly wiped her tears away and ducked behind some barrels upon noticing some soldiers getting a bit too close. She could take no chances; her coloring and looks were clearly Isaachian and they wouldn’t show mercy, no matter how young she was. 

She unconsciously pulled her sleeve over the Mark of Od on her right wrist. Maybe she would just be imprisoned if seen, but if they found out she was of Isaachian royalty? She’d be dead in a minute. She doubted that her Fjalar Mark on her left wrist would help matters; she was the daughter of a traitor. 

After the soldiers passed, Erin scurried across the street to an alley, in which she positioned herself in a place where she could see, but couldn’t be seen, looking for a quick route to get back to the place she was needed. She would probably have to wait mere minutes, but it was possible it would take hours. Bloom was taking no chances when it came to securing that no rebel made it out of Friege alive. 

After a few minutes of sitting and watching, Erin noticed a strange woman, clad in black with flaming red hair, not unlike the people in Velthomer. It was a bit odd that she was here; while Friege and Velthomer had good relations, the people of Velthomer considered themselves superior, and generally liked to stay there while Friege visited them. So, it was a bit odd for a woman who looked to be from there to be in Friege at all, much less someone who was wearing clothes that seemed that high in quality. Nobles hated to leave on anything less than their own terms. 

Somehow, this woman made Erin feel a bit uneasy, so she decided to leave a bit quicker than planned. She looked for an opening, found one, and sprinted as fast as she could, which was faster than most thanks to her Od blood. But, apparently, it wasn’t fast enough, as the woman grabbed her by the collar as soon as she ran past. Shoot. 

Well, she was most definitely dead. May as well start preparing to see her stepfather and mother in the afterlife, if the thing even existed. 

“What are you doing? Who are you?” Asked the woman, turning Erin by the collar to face her. Erin quickly attempted to use her fingers to pull down her sleeves over her wrists in the off chance she had a possibility to live, but it was too late. The woman saw them. 

Pulling up Erin’s sleeves to see what she was hiding, the woman stared at them for a moment before looking right into her eyes. Erin flinched, not really liking the idea of dying while looking into a person’s eyes, but kept her eyes locked nevertheless. Shannan had taught her that avoiding eye contact showed fear, and she didn’t want to give this woman the satisfaction. 

But, to her surprise, the woman loosened her grip on her collar slightly, and gazed at her even more intently. “Fjalar red…” the woman whispered, and raised Erin’s left wrist to examine her mark closer. 

“Are you going to kill me, or what?” said Erin, who was getting slightly annoyed that it was taking so long. The woman obviously knew who she was, and would be stupid if she didn’t humiliate Isaach’s bloodline further than it already had been by killing it’s Od Major in the streets like an animal. She’d probably get a medal from Danann for it. But to Erin’s surprise, the woman shook her head. 

“I have no reason to kill you. In fact, I would like you to come with me.” She made a half attempt to smile, but didn’t quite succeed. Erin glared. 

“Where are you going to bring me? A dungeon? The gallows? If you’re going to kill me, I’d prefer if you did it right here. All the better for you, right? You’d probably go up the noble person pole.” Murmured Erin, and the woman sighed. 

“Why am I not surprised that you’re her daughter…?” She murmured, and without warning, grabbed Erin by the shoulders and guided her forwards, towards the edge of town. Now, this was bad. Erin would much prefer death than the imprisonment that was seemingly coming; if she was captured, she knew that Shannan and Oifey would put themselves at risk to save her, they were just like that. Erin wasn’t exactly sure what to do. She could attempt to run, but that would just be idiotic. If the woman caught her once, she could probably get her again, as well as alert guards. 

At the same time, she had a knife in her belt. If worse came to worst, she could always end it right then and there, which in her mind was preferable to putting her sister and her friends in danger. 

As she was thinking about this, she was at the same time struggling in the woman’s arms, which visibly annoyed the woman who seemingly gave up on dragging her and resorted to picking Erin up and carrying her over her shoulder. While Erin still struggled, now she had almost a zero chance of escaping. Erin acknowledged this in her mind (and mentally also told herself that the struggling was probably making it worse) but she was too stubborn to give up at this point. Even for an 8 year old, she was physically very strong due to her Od blood and held onto some hope that it could help her escape somehow. 

However, it soon became clear that this wasn’t the case. The strange woman, who Erin still had no idea who she even was (but looked familiar, somehow) was getting closer and closer towards a carriage, which Erin knew that her attempts were now futile. Oh, well. She supposed that death wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe even preferable to life, if the stories about reuniting with family and stuff was true. Maybe she’d finally see what her mother looked like. Aster would be sad, but...she had the others. As much as it pained Erin, she wanted Aster to live a good life, even if she wasn’t in it. 

As soon as the woman placed Erin down to take her into the carriage, Erin made her move. She quickly took her dagger out of her belt and moved to put it towards her throat, but it seemed as though the woman had foreseen this and acted just as quickly, taking the knife by it’s blade and throwing it on the ground. 

“Don’t worry about your friends,” said the woman, who somehow seemed to know what Erin was thinking, “I’m not going to actively send any soldiers to go harm them. I was only sent to find you, and now I have. If you stay, they’ll be perfectly fine.” 

She smiled at Erin, which Erin returned with a scowl. The woman sighed deeply and held out her hand, which Erin didn’t take, so she was forced to drag Erin in the carriage by force. Erin felt extremely helpless AND annoyed. She had no other choice now but to stay, providing that this woman kept her promises, which she wasn’t entirely faithful about. 

After a few moments in the carriage, in which Erin stood somewhat still, the woman spoke. 

“So...you must be wondering why I took you so suddenly.” 

Erin shrugged. “To kill me, right? To bring my family to shame more than you already have? I assume it’s going to be a public thing, killing an Isaachian royal.” 

The woman looked at Erin a moment, seemingly deep in thought, before rubbing the side of her right temple, clearly starting to get irritated with her somewhat. 

“I have already told you, I have no intention of killing you.” She darted her gaze from Erin’s eyes onto her left wrist, where her Fjalar mark was located. “I’m bringing you to Belhalla to live there alongside your half-uncle and aunt.” 

Erin squinted. She had no idea why this was happening; surely Arvis hated her as much as she despised him. While he HAD attempted to protect her father from the Battle of Belhalla, Azelle had fled. Branded a traitor afterwards. So, this made no sense. Perhaps he wanted to fry her in person, much like he had Sigurd? Now _that_ made sense to Erin. Much more so than Arvis wanting to be all buddy-buddy with his half-niece. 

The woman bowed her head slightly. “You’re probably wondering who I am. My name is Aida. I am a commander for Arvis, as well as an advisor.” Oh, gods. Erin realized who this woman was immediately upon hearing her name; it was the woman who led Sigurd to his death. Caused her stepfather to die. Took her mother away from everything that she loved. 

Erin decided that she hated this woman just as much as Arvis. 

Aida seemed to notice the sudden fire in Erin’s eyes and rubbed her temple again, sighing deeply. 

“I see you recognize my name. Well, nothing to do about that, I suppose.” She seemed to be avoiding Erin’s eyes now, which annoyed Erin to no end. “I’ll admit that you do have the right to be angry with me. It would be stupid of me to try and convince you otherwise.” She looked into Erin’s eyes again, looking slightly grim. “But please know that Arvis...was doing what was right for Grannvale. Your family...was never meant to be harmed. He would never do that to Azelle.” 

Erin narrowed her eyes at Aida but decided not to try and pick a verbal argument for once in her life. She did despise Aida a bit more now that she knew that she thought the deaths were justified, of course. _He would never do that to Azelle._ Well, what about Diarmuid, and Lester, and Larcei? Was what happened to their parents justified, then? 

...Ugh. This was giving her one of her stupid headaches again. Aunt Edain always had a special medicine for it, but now…

Erin just then began to fully understand the weight of everything. She might never see Edain, Shannan, or Oifey again. She might never see her friends, her older sister ever again. 

She hated Arvis even more now, if that was even possible. If he did kill her, she hoped he did it publicly so her family would at least know. 

She didn’t want them wasting their time looking for a corpse. 

* * *

“...We’re here.” 

Aida’s voice woke up Erin from her nap (she internally yelled at herself for letting her guard down in that way) and she rubbed her eyes, looking out the window of the carriage. 

There was a castle. Big, white, and with flower beds all across the side of it’s walls. Erin knew immediately that it was Belhalla castle, and had the sudden urge to bolt out of the carriage and into the snowy night, but she caught herself. Doing that would only put her family in danger, and that was the last thing she wanted. If she was lucky, her death would come swiftly. She had heard that Sigurd’s death happened so quickly that he hadn’t even been able to register what had happened to him. That wasn’t exactly the death she wanted, she would much prefer to die like her Aunt Ayra had, but it seemed a whole lot nicer than her Uncle Arden’s death, at least. She had only heard bad things about that death. 

“Come,” said Aida, climbing out of the carriage and holding open the door with one hand, using the other to tip the driver. Erin jumped out without looking at Aida at all and advanced until reaching the gates. 

Her mother was surely turning in her grave, knowing where her youngest daughter was now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I absolutely love the Thrud and Fjalar noble houses, and the characters in them. I wanted to explore them a bit, so...here you go? 
> 
> Erin is the daughter of Azelle and an OC, Sylvie, who is Ayra’s cousin, explaining Erin’s Major Od blood. I’ll be making a story about her eventually…but anyway, the Aster is Erin’s older sister by a different father. The family tree is a bit...messy, but don’t worry, it’ll be explained. 
> 
> I’m not going to be putting these in the tags, but here are the pairs from the first generation that are somewhat relevant: Tailtiu married Dew, Ayra married Claud, Edain married Finn, Lachesis married Lewyn, Silvia married Naoise, Erinys married Holyn, and Brigid married Lex. These pairs are so random because I took them from my “Crack Pairing” playthrough. I thought it’d be fun to write them. 
> 
> Updates will likely be a bit slow, but this wouldn’t leave me alone and I had to write it. I hope you enjoy it!


	2. Chapter 1) Ghosts of Belhalla

Diadora was excited. Very much so. 

Arvis had been looking for Azelle’s alleged child for 7 years. After sending scouts from Silesse to Thracia, after tracking down Prince Shannan and that Sigurd’s relative for who knows how long, they had been found. 

Diadora wasn’t exactly sure of all the details; Arvis had only just told her that Aida had sent word, and that the child would be there soon. She had no name, no gender, no age to go off on. But that didn’t prevent her from being happy. She finally had a relative to spoil; though, that seemed rather foolish to her to think. She already had two children, in addition to Ishtar and Ishtore, who were almost always around. Not to mention Saias. He was just as much of her son as he was Arvis’s, in her mind. 

But...at the same time, she couldn’t help herself. Whenever she thought of the child, she felt a rather...odd feeling. Most particularly when the child’s mother was mentioned.  _ Sylvera, princess of Isaach.  _ She assumed that she had just heard of the name when those despicable rebels were mentioned. Yes...that must be why. 

“Diadora? Are you alright?” 

Diadora jumped a bit but quickly composed herself. Arvis hadn’t announced himself, but that was a bit of a bad habit of his. Diadora thought that he should try and fix that; the first time little Linda visited she had begun to cry because he had walked in unannounced and she thought him to be a vampire, which, in all honesty, Diadora couldn’t deny. His long hair and black clothing certainly helped him look the part. 

“Yes, I’m fine, Arvis.” She grinned. “Just excited, is all. I never met your brother, so I’m excited to see what his child looks like.” 

Arvis smiled slightly and leaned against the doorframe, looking tired but happier than he had been for a while. “I’m happy, as well. I wasn’t able to save Azelle, but-” his smile faded somewhat, replaced with a look of concern, “I want to be able to help his child, at least. To make up for my past mistakes.” 

Diadora looked at him sadly and walked over, rubbing his shoulder in what she hoped was a reassuring way. Arvis was much too hard on himself; it wasn’t his fault that Sigurd (Diadora hated how her heart leaped every time she thought about that...traitor) had caused Azelle to think things that weren’t true, and believe in a cause that didn’t exist. While Arvis was hopeful that Azelle would one day also return (He had sent a message to look out for him in Friege, Isaach, and Dozel) Diadora knew that as years went by, hope for his safety was getting difficult to hold onto. 

Suddenly, Aida burst in, and Diadora had to jump aside, pulling Arvis so he wouldn’t get knocked into. After seeing that she almost plowed into them, Aida bowed and quietly apologized before facing Arvis. 

“Aida, is-” 

“She’s here.” Diadora looked slightly confused before Aida expanded upon that sentence. “Azelle’s daughter. I wasn’t sure it was her at first, but she has marks of Fjalar and Od in addition to Isaachian looks and Velthomer red eyes. I’m certain it’s her.” 

Arvis stood still for a moment before laughing, a happy, relieved laugh, one Diadora hadn’t heard for years. She clapped her hand together and smiled, but soon noticed that Aida’s face wasn’t happy but more...grim, if anything. Arvis seemed to notice as well after a moment and stopped laughing. 

“Aida, is something the matter?” 

Aida nodded. “The girl-she didn’t tell me her name, but sources say that it’s Erin-is rather...hostile, at the moment.” Diadora frowned, but Arvis’s face stayed rather stony. “I understand why, of course. She was taken away from her friends and sister...I would’ve brought the sister as well, but she wasn’t near and I would’ve lost an opportune moment to bring her here. I wish I had, now...but please just prepare yourselves for meeting her. She may bring up some things, but remember that she is a child. I believe that she cannot be much older than seven or eight.” 

Arvis slowly nodded, but Diadora worried. She hoped that Erin would be able to live happily, if only for Arvis’s sake. He had waited so long for this, and if Erin hated him…

“Well, let’s see her, shall we?” Diadora attempted to sound as happy as possible, and took Arvis’s hand, which he gripped tightly. He nodded stiffly. 

“Yes, let’s go.” 

The walk to Aida’s office was long and silent, with the only noise being Arvis’s finger nervously tapping against his leg, his other hand still gripping Diadora’s tighter than he ever had. When they eventually reached the office and opened the door, the girl was in sight, bending over a chair facing Aida’s desk, idly poking holes in it with a dagger Diadora wasn’t sure how she obtained.

“Erin.” 

Upon Aida saying her name, Erin turned, looking completely disinterested. 

“What is it now? Planning to torture me in a wet tower like you’re doing to Aunt Tai-” 

Upon seeing Diadora and Arvis, Erin stopped talking and simply squinted. 

“Oh. It’s you. Here to burn me to death like Daddy Beowolf? Or crush me with meteors like Uncle Alec?” 

Arvis winced and Diadora squeezed his hand reassuringly before slowly walking towards Erin, smiling in what she hoped was a friendly manner, though this was only met by a glare. 

“Hello. I’m Diadora.” She held out a hand, which was swiftly swatted away. 

“...Deirdre…” Erin murmured, but after an inquisitive look from Diadora she looked away. “Whatever. What do you plan to do with me?” she spat out the last words, barely bothering to contain her distaste with them. Diadora had been expecting her to be angry, but...she was a child. Her own children were almost always bubbly and cheerful, so having a child who seemed so tired, angry,  _ worn _ …

“Diadora, we should get her a room.” 

Diadora was brought out of her thoughts by Arvis, who put a hand on her shoulder and had an expression of great discomfort on his face. Diadora, who was expecting it to be  _ her  _ offering an escape from this for Arvis’s sake, was slightly surprised but nodded. 

"Yeah. Let’s do that.” 

Diadora sighed. She knew that having Erin adjust to everything would be difficult, but...maybe her hopes had been a lot too high. 

* * *

Erin knew that the silver haired woman was Seliph’s mother the second she saw her. Betrayed her friends and family by marrying Arvis, eventually watching her husband be murdered directly in front of her and not batting an eye. 

_ Diadora,  _ they called her. Ha! Another attempt to leave behind her family, her  _ son _ ...

Erin somehow hated her more than Arvis for that. At least he had the decency to do the whole betraying thing upfront. Besides, he didn’t abandon his infant son to live a life of wandering and hiding constantly in fear of his life. 

Oh, well. 

Erin’s room that had been arranged for her (the second she got there, she slammed the door in Aida’s face) was large, cold, and black. Very black. Did Arvis like any other colors? 

A week had gone by, and Erin hadn’t left the room once. She ate by picking up food some maid left by the door three times a day, and occasionally a book was left next to it by someone who she assumed was probably the silver haired woman or the murderer. 

Somehow, it wasn’t as bad as she thought. Though she sometimes cried like a pathetic fool upon thinking of her sister, Shannan, and Seliph too often, nobody bothered her all that much. 

Well, that wasn’t exactly true. At times, those two twins would knock on her door begging her to play, but they usually would leave after some other child she didn’t know would tell them to let her “adjust” and at times, some other children with similar sounding names would be with them. 

“ERIN! Wanna play with us?” 

“Julius, she’s still adjusting, leave her be…”

...Well, there they were now. Erin became slightly annoyed at the fact that the other voice was assuming things, though. What if she did want to play? Well, she didn’t, but she felt the need to contradict the little snob (Aunt Edain had often told her that she was too much like Ayra) that she got up from her place on the floor and opened the door, to the apparent surprise of the taller boy who she assumed was the one saying to leave her alone. 

The younger boy, who had long hair that reminded her of Shannan’s, face went into a large grin upon seeing her and immediately began jumping up and down to Erin’s confusion. 

“See, Saias? She really does want to play with us!” 

The boy put on an expression of smugness that Erin found slightly adorable, and the taller Saias boy sighed. 

“I guess she does.” 

Saias looked at her for a moment before shrugging and walking away. Julius pouted and grabbed the edge of Erin’s dress.

“Saias thinks he’s too  _ old  _ to play. But he’s only  _ ten.  _ I don’t want to stop playing when I’m ten. That’s in…” Julius counted on his fingers, face squished in concentration, “Five years! That’s a long time, but not that long.” After a moment, Julius pulled on Erin’s dress and giggled. 

“Let’s go play hide and seek with Julia and Ishtore!” 

Erin nodded slowly. 

“Alright.” 

She supposed that things weren’t going to be...great, but maybe they’d get a little better, at least. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't specify this, but this story is going to take place from 768 to 779 (which I'm pegging as Gen 2's beginning; I felt like extending Thracia's timeline to take place over 1 year, since it felt more realistic.) 
> 
> It's stated that there were many years in which Grannvale thrived; I'm making that end in 775, one year before Thracia 776. Sorry if there's any official stuff that says otherwise, I couldn't find one. 
> 
> Deirdre is going by "Diadora" since it doesn't make a lot of sense to me that she would remember her name, and that Arvis would never mention her name to Azelle in letters at all.


	3. Chapter 2) Winter Brings Memories

When Tailtiu heard of Azelle’s child, she had been surprised. Last she’d heard, Sylvie had been in a relationship with Beowolf, and a happy one at that. Though, she had heard that Arvis had burned him to near ash like he had Sigurd, so she guessed that Sylvie and Azelle’s close friendship had simply escalated after Belhalla, which resulted in a child. 

...She wondered where Sylvie and Azelle were. She guessed that Azelle was likely dead, what with Friege, Isaach, and Dozel all holding warrants out for the deaths of any “traitor” that fought alongside Sigurd, but Sylvie hadn’t been heard from since before she allegedly gave birth. If she had died, it would’ve been a spectacle of sorts, since she was of Isaachian royalty. Danann was big on the whole “Anti-Isaach” thing, so maybe there was still hope…

“...Auntie Tailtiu?” 

Ishtar poked her head from behind the tower door and Tailtiu smiled best she could. Ishtar wasn’t allowed to be there since Hilda forbade it, but she was careful about things mostly, bar one time Bloom caught her and gave he ran warning. And if she was caught, Tailtiu could simply take the blame and Ishtar would get off scot free. Hilda’s wrath..wouldn’t be used on her daughter. Tailtiu made sure of that. 

“Ishtar,” Tailtiu began, as Ishtar climbed onto her lap, “Is there something you need? Do you want me to tell you a story again?” 

Ishtar shook her head, snuggling into Tailtiu’s arms. “No. I just wanted to see you, Auntie. I wanted a hug, since it’s so cold.” Ishtar giggled and leaned into Tailtiu a bit more. 

Tailtiu was rather upset at her older brother for not giving his daughter affection enough to enact his daughter to go up a tower to get some from her aunt, but was more concerned if anything. Tailtiu knew that Hilda was worse than evil, yes. But maybe she had some hope that she would have SOME love for her daughter, at least. 

“Auntie?” Said Ishtar, fiddling with her braid that Diadora had made for her a few days before. 

“Yes, Ishtar?” 

“Did you hear? Uncle Arvis’s niece lives with him now!” Ishtar bounced a bit in her apparent excitement, nearly falling off Tailtiu's lap if not for Tailtiu holding her steady. Tailtiu smiled, and put on a face of mock surprise. Everyone expected Ishtar to act like an adult, but she was only eight years old. Might as well indulge her a bit every now and then. 

“Is that so, Ishtar? What’s her name?” 

“Erin! She told me,” she puffed out her chest, obviously proud that the girl confided in her, “That she was named after a pegasus knight her mommy knew named Erinys. Isn’t that name pretty?”

Tailtiu didn’t respond for a moment, simply savoring the sound of Erinys’s name. It had been almost 5 years since she had last heard it, last seen Erinys wave goodbye sadly as Tailtiu left Silesse with Arthur and Tine…

“...Auntie Tailtiu? Are you okay?” 

Tailtiu snapped out of her daze and nodded. “I’m fine, Ishtar. Yes, Erinys is a very lovely name. Not as lovely as Ishtar, though.” She added, ruffling Ishtar’s hair. Ishtar giggled. 

“Thankees, Auntie Tailtiu! I still think that Linda and Olwen’s names are prettier, though.” She perked up slightly. “Reinhardt says that ‘Ishtar’ is a goddess of love in some mythology book he’s reading, though! So that’s good.” She eased back into Tailtiu, sighing contentedly. 

“...Auntie?” 

“Yes, Ishtar?” 

“I love you.” 

“I love you too, Ishtar.” 

* * *

Erin had begun to keep track of all the children in Belhalla, since she had a lot of time on her hands as of late. There were so many, and she had no idea as to why. 

There were the Friege children. Ishtar and Ishtore, her Aunt Tailtiu’s niece and nephew, alongside Linda and Amid, the children of Tailtiu’s younger sister Ethnia. There was Ishtar’s guard, Reinhardt, who was a bit creepy in Erin’s opinion (he barely talked to anybody besides Ishtar and that little sister of his; when he wasn’t, he was reading some weird books about myths and fairytales) alongside that annoying boy Kempf, who she assumed was of nobility since he was always bragging to Amid about his new shiny swords. There was Reinhardt’s sister, Olwen, and that Frederich boy (though only adults called him that, all the children called him Fred) trailed after her wherever she went. Tailtiu’s daughter, Tine, was also apparently there, but Erin had never seen her. She didn’t think much as to why. 

Then there were the Velthomer children. Julia and Julius, the children of Diadora (she had decided to use the name; while she still hated her, at least she didn’t murder anyone directly) and the murderer, and Saias, the murderer’s illegitimate child who was also apprently the Aida woman’s son. Erin found that little tidbit interesting, but not enough to ask about it. That Diadora woman seemed at least intelligent enough to flee if it was anything that could affect her stupid little fake marriage. 

“Erin, wanna play hide and seek?”

Julius began banging on the door, per usual. Such a thing had become almost routine; he always knocked at the exact same time of day every day, even if Erin had said no the day before. Erin could begrudgingly admit to herself that she found the kid cute, at least. His red hair reminded her of her father’s, which she could only remember so very vaguely it almost hurt to think about for extended periods of time. 

Erin was particularly tired that day, since she had another stupid crying session after thinking about how Diarmuid and Lana would always sing a “special song” to help her go to sleep at night, but was also very bored. The book that the strange person was leaving with her food she had finished; she was waiting for the time when they’d give her another one. They had done it five times, why not do it again? But since dinner wasn’t for another three hours, she decided she might as well comply. She had nothing better to do, did she? 

“Okay,” she opened the door to her room and Julius grinned, pulling on her dress skirt like he always did when leading her to the courtyard to play, despite her knowing how to get there by now. 

“Erin, guess who’s playing with us today?” 

“I don’t know, who?” 

“Julia! Olwen! And Fred! Saias said he might come, and Ishtar and Ishtore are coming later, but Amid and Linda are here already!” 

Erin frowned slightly, but was able to cover it up quickly when Julius looked her way. If all of the Friege children were coming, that likely meant that Bloom and Hilda were as well, which annoyed her. She had no love for Bloom, and even less for Hilda; Bloom had taken her father away. Hilda was holding her Aunt Tailtiu captive at this very moment. So she wasn’t feeling very friendly about them right then. 

“We’re hereeee!” Yelled out Julius, jumping through the snow, inadvertently kicking the snow into Erin’s face, and waving his arms around as soon as they reached the courtyard, causing all of the people Julius had managed to bring together to look his way. 

“Julius, you should be more quiet. Lord Bloom, Lady Ethnia, and Lady Hilda are in a meeting with Lord Arvis and Lady Diadora.” Warned Olwen, who looked very nervous about the prospect of letting them down, which was a bit odd considering that she was only ten and only just starting her training as a knight. Fred nodded behind Olwen’s back, but that was expected. He was always agreeing with what Olwen said. 

Julius pouted. “Fine. But do you wanna play hide and seek, or tag?” Julius stopped pouting in an instant and resumed being excited almost immediately, which was something he was...very good at. Erin found that a bit odd, considering how most of the adults in his life were generally very...gloomy, to say the least. 

“Hide and seek!” Julia yelled out, almost as loudly as Julius, but repeated it a bit more quietly following a “shhh” from Amid and Olwen. 

“Hide and seek sounds wonderful,” said Amid, crossing his arms over his chest, nodding slowly. Behind him, Linda giggled, and he nudged her to stop. Amid seemed to enjoy acting older and using bigger words, despite his young age, and that made him the subject of Linda and Ishtar’s teasing, to his chagrin. 

Julius threw his arms up into the air, and smiled widely. “So we’re playing hide and seek! Fred can be a seeker! Everyone hide!” 

Everyone ran in separate directions at once, leaving behind Fred who had begun to splutter things about "needing to be near Olwen at all times." 

* * *

Erin wasn’t the most creative when it came to hide and seek. She usually just walked inside and hid in her room or the library, and someone would find her after awhile. But that day, she decided to just go into the first room that wasn’t locked. She was tired, and not really in the mood for walking across the castle for the second time that day. 

After walking past a few doors that were locked, she finally found one that was open. When she walked inside, she was surprised to see that it was the infirmary. Usually, Aida’s father Cowen was there (at least, that’s what she heard from Ishtar, who was constantly trying to talk to Erin and tell her about anything and everything) but that day, it seemed that he wasn’t there. Huh. 

“Erin?” 

Erin jumped up and turned around quickly, where she saw Saias standing in the doorway. After staring at each other for a moment, Saias sighed. “Julius probably made you play hide and seek with him, huh? Sorry about that. I know that it must be difficult, being here.” 

Erin shrugged. “I’m fine. I don’t mind playing with Julius.” Saias stood there a moment, as if confused. “Can I stay here for a while? I doubt that Fred’s going to look here anytime soon, he’s probably zeroing in on finding Olwen first.” 

After a moment of Saias looking at her as if analyzing her every movement, as if trying to figure out how a “prisoner” (Erin had heard him say that to Julia once, and while she knew it was true, she didn’t like people saying it out loud. It made her feel sick) could possibly want to play hide and seek with the children of her captors. After a very uncomfortable few seconds, he nodded. 

“Alright. Sorry if I don’t talk much, though. Grandfather told me to sort out the medicines for him. He’s in the meeting with Father right now,” he added, upon seeing Erin’s inquisitive look. “Do you want to help?” 

Erin thought for a moment and then nodded. Saias, while he wasn’t her  _ favorite  _ person here, was nice enough. And he was quiet. She liked quiet. 

It was easy to figure out where to put each thing of medicine, since there were labels indicating their positioning, and unlike before the silence was comfortable. The only noise was the creaks of the cabinet doors, and Erin liked that. Even in her own room, silence was rare since either Julius or Julia would be banging on her door, Ishtar would talk for hours, Aida would question her on Shannan’s whereabouts, or Diadora would slide some weird scented candle underneath her door that smelled of pine needles. So this was nice. Very nice. 

“Are you done with the book yet?” 

Erin looked over at him so quickly that her neck cricked. “You did that? Yes, I finished it, but I thought it was your mother trying to make me forgive the mur-“ Erin caught herself. “Your father.”

Saias put down a bottle and turned to her, smiling very slightly at the side of his mouth. “You can say it. My father is a murderer, I know. It makes what I feel towards him...complicated. But he is still my father.” After a moment of silence he continued, obviously wanting to change the subject. Erin was fine with that, since for some reason she felt hesitant to speak her mind around him. Maybe it was just easier with adults, but shouldn’t it be easier with Saias? He was a child, yes, but it often felt like he spoke a little  _ too  _ much like an adult. 

“Did you enjoy it? Grandfather recommended it to me first, but I don’t read much. I thought you might want something to do, so I snuck it in with your dinner tray when Clidna wasn’t looking.” He closed the cabinet and glanced at the window, where Erin noticed Fred, apparently bickering with Kempf (where did he come from?) over something trivial, like normal. Probably Olwen related. 

“Thanks,” she murmured, not exactly sure how to express her gratitude other than to just say that, “It was pretty good, but a little sad. Lady Neve in the story shouldn’t have had so much hope. It made you know who’s death more upsetting. Also,” Erin’s face went a bit sour, “They never told us if she got with Sir Thrud! I was expecting it.” She pouted and leaned against the wall. Saias laughed softly. 

“Well, I think that’s good. Surprise is good every now and then, even if you aren’t happy with it. Besides,” he adopted a thoughtful expression, “Lady Neve and Sir Thrud were real people. And history shows that they  _ did  _ get together, so that’s good, right?” Erin nodded, smiling. 

“That is good.” 

“ERIN! I found you!” 

Just then, Julius came crashing in, with a very uncomfortable looking Fred and Amid in tow. “Fred found me and Amid-” 

“On  _ accident _ -” cut in Fred. 

“So we’re all seekers now! And I found you! So let’s go find Olwen, Julia, and Linda!” And he was gone just as quickly as he came, sprinting out the door with Amid calling out something about decorum and Fred looking very annoyed. 

“...You should probably go catch up with him, lest you want him to pester you for the rest of the week.” Saias smiled, and Erin nodded slowly. 

“I should. But,” she sat down against the cabinets, “I’d rather not. I prefer the quiet, I assume you know, as much as I enjoy Julius’s company.” 

Saias looked surprised, but nodded. “Can you wait here a moment? I wanna get you something.” Erin’s expression turned from confused to excited when Saias exited Cowen’s office with a leather bound book titled “The Ribald Tales of the Holy War.” 

“It’s from Lady Emer’s perspective,” explained Saias excitedly, “It’s very interesting, to hear her thoughts on the war. Not to spoil anything, but her secret heritage is explained and everything. Apparently, Grandfather has kept the only copy in existence, but here it is.” He smiled. “He probably won’t even notice it’s gone. ...Probably.” 

Erin looked around the room, almost afraid that Cowen would burst in at that very moment and take the book away, but when he did not do so she relaxed. “Thanks, Saias.” She smiled (it felt a bit odd, she hadn't smiled so much since she was with Aster and Diarmuid), and Saias grinned. 

“I’m glad you like it. You should come by here again, after you’re done with it. We can discuss it then.” He held out his hand, and Erin shook it. 

“Yeah. I think I will.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Neve is a form of Niamh, a figure in Irish mythology who is the daughter of the sea god. Emer is the wife of Cu Chulainn in Irish mythology. Clidna is a form of Cliodhna, a goddess in Irish mythology. 
> 
> As for ages: Erin is 8, Saias is 11, Julius is 5, Julia is 5, Ishtar is 8, Ishtore is 6, Tine is 4, Kempf is 11, Reinhardt is 13, Olwen is 10, Fred is 13, Amid is 6, and Linda is 4. 
> 
> This chapter takes place about 3 months after the last one. The next chapter will have a skip of 2 years, just to be clear. 
> 
> Yes, Beowolf was Sylvie's first husband and Aster's father who died at Belhalla. Yes, I took inspiration from the popular theory that Lachesis had two husbands. 
> 
> "Ribald Tales" comes from Sumia and Robin's support Fire Emblem Awakening, where she mentions a book titled "Ribald Tales of the Faith War."


	4. Chapter 3) Spring's Tears

When Tine was told her mother was dead, she did not cry. All she felt was anger. 

Anger at not being able to prevent it. Anger at never being able to truly know her. Anger at _Hilda_ for doing this to her (Uncle Bloom said it was an accident, and as much as he wanted to believe that Tine knew that wasn’t the case). 

“Tine, does it hurt?” 

Tine wasn’t sure if Ishtar was talking about the loss or the ribbons she was tugging into her hair, but either way the answer was both. She wished so deeply that her mother could be there to do it instead, but that was impossible, and it wasn’t like she even did it when she was alive, anyway. Oh, well. While Ishtar really was bad at it, it was fine. She knew that Ishtar was hurting too, perhaps even more so than she was. Ishtar spent more time with Tailtiu than her own daughter did. 

“We’re done,” whispered Ishtar, tugging one of Tine’s ribbons one last time and setting down the brush. Ishtar began to tug on the high ponytail that Diadora had made for her. She usually wore braids, but after Tine gave her a hair tie that her mother used to wear she had begun wearing ponytails more often. “Tine, we probably need to go now, or else Lady Mother will yell.” 

Tine slowly nodded. To the funeral. They were going to her mother’s funeral. 

Tine had no idea why her Uncle Bloom had insisted on making it such a big event, since very little people knew that her mother was even in Friege at all. While he cared for her much more than Hilda did, he still locked her up in a tower and refused to let her go. Maybe he felt remorse. But Bloom was a confusing man, and Tine didn’t want to stress with thinking about those things that day, of all days. 

“There you are! You are a sorry excuse for a daughter, do you know who will BE at this sickening event?” 

Hilda’s cries rang out from across the hall and Ishtar flinched. She looked to Tine quickly, who nodded and quickly ran out the glass door that led to the courtyard. She felt bad leaving Ishtar to face her mother alone like that, but decided to make it up to her later. Maybe she’d give her some of her mother’s ribbons that she was eyeing when Tine showed her some of her mother’s belongings. 

“Lady Tine, where have you been? Lord Bloom has been looking for you,” Olwen ran up to Tine immediately, looking worried. Tine shrugged and looked down at her feet. She supposed she couldn’t procrastinate any longer, lest Hilda have a screaming fit when all was said and done. 

“Getting ready.” 

“Well, the service is starting in 5 minutes, so you should sit down. Your seat is next to Lord Ishtore and Lady Julia.” 

Tine nodded. Guess she had to face this sooner rather than later. It wasn’t like the pain would numb anytime soon, either way. 

* * *

During the funeral, Julia cried herself rivers, holding Tine’s hand sobbing about how “sorry” she was that her mommy was dead. Olwen, Reinhardt, and Fred all stood near Ishtar and Julius, who were crying together. Kempf, Amid, and Linda were talking quietly behind Ethnia, who Tine noticed was the only member of Tailtiu’s close family who was shedding real tears. Hilda cried fake tears, dabbing her face with one of Tailtiu’s handkerchiefs she had stolen from her while talking to a minor lord of Friege, whose young daughter Liza was playing with Ishtore in a corner of the courtyard. Bloom simply sat stony beside her, sometimes sneaking glances at Tine, with a look of pity on his face. 

Seconds after they placed one final flower on Tailtiu’s body, Tine bolted. 

She had no idea where she was going, what she was going to do when she got there, and how she would explain herself later, but she didn’t care. She needed to get away, to somewhere where all the people who were only there to gawk and stare weren’t. All she wanted was to be alone, and grieve for her mother in peace without Hilda saying almost jokingly “poor girl” whenever she passed, as if tormenting her. 

When she stopped in the middle of the garden, huffing and puffing due to the run (and the added downside that she had terrible stamina) she was surprised to see that there was someone else already there, sitting on the edge of the fountain, one hand running through the still water. Tine recognized her as Arvis’ alleged “filthy Isaachian'' half-niece she heard Bloom and Hilda talking about, with her jet black hair and red eyes. She had seen her standing near Saias during the reception, throwing Bloom and Hilda dirty looks every now and then. The girl seemed to see Tine before she could run away, and waved hesitantly before patting the spot next to her. Tine had no reason not to go there; this girl seemed nice. And there was the added bonus of her not one of those “lookers.” 

Tine sat down next to the girl and tugged on her pigtail, trying to somewhat loosen the much too tight ribbons Ishtar had secured. The girl laughed quietly, which angered Tine. Maybe she wasn’t so nice after all. 

“Sorry. I wasn’t laughing about the pigtails, I was laughing about how tight they were.” Oh. “Ishtar tried to braid my hair once, but she was terrible at it. Saias is better, anyway.” She flung the braid on her shoulders to her back for emphasis, and Tine vaguely admired the red ribbon tying it together, which looked somewhat similar to hers except with a frill on the sides. The girl sighed. 

“Your Aunt Tailtiu’s daughter, right?” She held out a hand, which Tine hesitantly took. “I’m Erin, if you didn’t know already. You probably don’t though,” She added thoughtfully, “Since everyone seems in a hurry to cover up my being here, but all they seem to keep a secret is my name, anyway.” 

Tine wasn’t sure what to say to that, so she simply nodded. Instead of talking more, which Tine expected, Erin was silent, staring into the grey clouds while fingering her red earrings, but after a while took Tine’s hand unexpectedly and stared into her large amber eyes. “It doesn’t get easier,” she whispered, making Tine’s spine shiver, “But at least think about her a bit. That was my mistake. That makes it even harder for me now.” 

And she let go of Tine’s hand and walked away, leaving Tine with only her thoughts and a single red ribbon that Erin left where she had been sitting. 

* * *

Sometimes, when the pain truly was unbearable, Erin allowed herself to think of her real family. Her mother, her father, and Aster. 

Her mother, body never found, hair even blacker than Erin’s and eyes the same violet as Aster’s. All she had heard of her mother’s last moments was sword up, face full of fury, charging towards those who dare threaten her family. 

Her father, body also never found, hair and eyes as red as Velthomer’s signature fire, the only trait that Erin inherited. _His_ final moments Erin had witnessed, though only vaguely remembered. Being taken away by soldiers of Friege, while she was held in the arms of Oifey in the shadows, forced to watch as he was taken to his likely demise. 

Aster was the only one she had any real memories of. Blonde hair like her father, violet eyes to match Larcei and Ulster. Timid, a crybaby, and while the older sister, it was Erin who took care of her, protected her, wiped her tears away. Erin never had that for herself. She wished that she did at times, but ignored that feeling. Shannan had taught her better, after all. Taught her to be strong, like her mother and Aunt Ayra had been. 

Erin began to tear up, and remembered exactly why she hated thinking about them so much. But what she had said to Tine last month was right, she couldn’t just not think about it. That was what made it so dang painful. 

“Erin? Are you okay?” 

Saias looked concerned, and Erin quickly wiped her tears away before they came and smiled weakly at him. “I’m fine. Just tired, Belenus’ drawling on about Lady Njorun’s horse made me drowsy.” Saias’s expression did not change, which told Erin that he didn’t buy it in the slightest, but he didn’t say anything about it and instead got back to writing down the math equations Belenus, their tutor, had left for them. 

“You should probably get those down, Erin. If he comes back and sees you aren’t done, he’ll force you to speak with my mother.” 

Upon him saying that, Erin quickly grabbed her pen and began to scribble them down rapidly, to which he snickered. That was his favorite threat to get Erin to work, and Erin had no idea why he was so okay with her hating a good chunk of his family, but decided that they could talk about that some other time, when she didn’t have to write down and solve 10 math problems in the span of around 6 minutes, which Belenus was using for his “lunch break” or, as Saias and Erin called it, a “Flirting with Clidna until she smacks him” break. 

“Erin, have you given my offer any thought?” Said Saias, who had been finished with his equations for several minutes and was now reading some book Cowen lent to him on strategy, which he had recently begun to show some interest in. 

“What offer? The one about setting up a prank for Manfroy so he’ll stop leering at Julius like a pedophile every time he walks by? Because if so, yes, definitely, absolutely, sign me up. Besides,” Erin grinned, “Last time I pranked him with Ishtar and Kempf, his face was the greatest! So, I am all in on that plan.” 

Saias raised an eyebrow and sighed. “I know you know what I’m talking about. How I want you to learn fire magic, like me and Julius. And no, the fact that you can light fires with your limited knowledge does not count,” he added upon seeing Erin’s mouth open to protest. Erin cursed silently the fact that he always knew what she was going to say. 

“Saias, I appreciate your caring and stuff, but I don’t need to know it, okay? If I’m going to be a swordmaster like mom, it’s unnecessary.” Erin was half-lying about that part, in all honestly. It was more like...she was scared to know more than the basic parts of the magic, which she knew was because of the Murderer. She feared one day casting down fire and meteors herself to kill...the thought made her nauseous, and she quickly steered off of that thought. She didn’t want Saias to worry if she threw up all over the makeshift classroom floor. 

Saias groaned at Erin’s very familiar argument, but seemed to relent and didn’t ask her further, though the looks he seemed to give her every now and then told her that he knew full well what her real reasons were. Erin somewhat hated the fact that he could read her so well and she struggled to understand him at times, but oh well. He was allowed to have his secrets, just like Erin had hers. 

* * *

Erin had been putting off visiting the cemetery for years. But after Aunt Tailtiu’s death and her talk with Tine, she felt like she had no other choice lest she feel like a hypocrite, something she really hated. 

About 2 years ago, the Murderer had decided to place a grave there for Azelle. Apparently, though she still hoped and prayed for his return (those were Diadora’s words, not Erin’s) he wanted to give him a memorial anyway. 

It really made Erin angry at how a man who murdered a good chunk of Azelle’s closest friends and ultimately ripped him away from his wife and children could even have the audacity to do such a thing, but even though Erin felt that way and told herself that was the main reason that she hadn’t come here earlier, that was a lie. She was scared. Scared to truly face a reminder that her father was very likely dead in the ground, buried an unmarked grave somewhere in Friege. 

The grave itself had a few candles and flowers close to it, almost certainly placed there by Diadora and citizens of Belhalla who admired Azelle, despite his status as one of Victor’s many illegitimate children. Erin almost kicked it before restraining herself. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings, if he was dead and in the afterlife. If the afterlife existed. Lana had believed in such, but Erin wasn’t so sure. 

“I thought you may come here, seeing all that has happened recently.” 

Erin didn’t even flinch upon hearing Diadora’s voice. She had honestly gotten used to it over the years, with her opening her bedroom door without reason to simply “give Erin some candles” and randomly appearing in the infirmary when Erin and Saias were reading some...maybe a bit too adult war novels. Diadora often complained of the Murderer doing that often, but she really was just as guilty. 

“Yeah. I’m not going to be a coward, anymore. Unlike someone else.” 

Erin did not mind that Diadora flinched at that statement. Erin knew that while Diadora loved justifying her second husband’s actions in all sorts of ways, she still felt somewhat touchy about the fact that he torched around 300 soldiers and ruined the lives of around 500 more. Erin knew that it was because of Diadora’s alleged amnesia, but Erin...wasn’t one to let go of grudges easily. _You’re too much like your Aunt Ayra like that, you’re much too stubborn,_ her Aunt Edain used to say when Erin would get into fights with Diarmuid over stupid things. But Erin was glad she was like that. She liked being closer to Ayra and her mother in any way possible, even if it wasn’t a very healthy thing, as Saias liked to remind her. 

“Have you brought anything to leave him?” Erin was snapped out of her daze, and Diadora smiled softly. “I brought some lilacs, if you want to place them for me. Arvis said that those were Azelle’s favorite,” Diadora paused a moment. “I wish I got to meet him. I mean, maybe I still can, but…” she trailed off. Erin looked from the flowers to Diadora for a few moments before aptly snatching them out of her hands, which she somewhat regretted after seeing Diadora’s sincerely disappointed face, and placed them on the grave as neatly as possible. 

“Aunt Edain once told me,” Erin said slowly, trying to make up for her tiny outburst, “That Dad liked lilacs so much because they matched Mom’s eyes. Of course,” she said quickly, upon seeing Diadora’s face fall, presumably because she was talking about one of Sigurd’s traitor friends so earnestly, “It may have just been some romantic thing Edain made up or something. That doesn’t mean-” 

But Erin didn’t have time to finish that sentence, because Diadora scooped her up into a hug that was, despite Diadora’s very silky outfit, extremely uncomfortable for Erin, who honestly wanted to vomit. The only person she had ever hugged since Aster and Diarmuid was Saias, and she liked to pretend that one time 1 year ago never happened, which amused Saias for whatever reason. 

“I think that story was beautiful,” said Diadora, who, to Erin’s utter terror, was _crying._ Erin squirmed until Diadora let go and sat down right in front of the grave, tracing her fingers over the name. _Azelle, Gran Year 739-761. May Fjalar’s Flame Guide You._

Erin kicked the stupid grave.

Diadora gasped. 

“Now, Erin, I know you must be frustrated, but that is no way-” 

“I don’t care,” Erin grumbled, kicking it softly again. “I...I’ve gone here, and I’ve looked at it, and I don’t feel any different. If anything, I feel worse now.”

In Erin's mind, she knew that it was childish to think everything would feel better the instant she came here, but she had hope that maybe, just maybe, it'd work out that way, like it did in stories. But it didn't. Diadora stayed silent a moment before sitting down beside Erin, which Erin knew would ruin that white, silk dress of hers, and put an arm on Erin’s. “I can’t remember anything,” said Diadora softly, “And I never met him, but I know that he loved you. Loves you, I mean. And even though you may hate me saying this,” Diadora put a hand on Erin’s shoulder, “I love you, too.” 

Diadora gave Erin’s shoulder one final squeeze before walking away, leaving Erin to wonder how a woman she had treated with disdain for nearly 3 years could possibly love her in any way. 

Erin sat there for another 2 hours. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tailtiu having a big funeral comes from something I read, can't remember where, sorry. This chapter takes place around 2 and a half years after the last one. 
> 
> I love hating Hilda, she really is the worst. I just love writing characters who I know are ultimately going to die, don't you? 
> 
> Officially, I'm pretty sure Azelle lives, but here I'm just going to make it ambiguous. 
> 
> Ages: Erin is 11, Saias is 13, Tine is 7, Ishtar is 10, Ishtore is 8, Liza is 9, Linda is 6, Amid is 8, Kempf is 13, Olwen is 12, Julius is 8, Julia is 8, Reinhardt is 15, and Fred is 15.


End file.
